


A Social Experiment

by CahiraCelosial, ValaSidra



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Fluff, Gen, New Friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24239101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CahiraCelosial/pseuds/CahiraCelosial, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValaSidra/pseuds/ValaSidra
Summary: Patton is throwing a party, and Virgil, Roman, and Logan are invited. How will two socially awkward people handle it?
Kudos: 12





	A Social Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Just a warning, there is an anxiety attack in here. The ways used to calm Virgil down are real ways to help people during an anxiety attack (We did look it up). Anyhoo, enjoy!

Roman was so excited for the party. It was going to be so cool! Everyone was going to be there, and Patton was cooking, so the food was going to be amazing, and let’s not get started on the party decorations. And then he saw Logan, the boringest of borings. Maybe he could drag him to the party, that would be funny.

“Hey, Logan! Doing anything tonight?”

Logan looked up from the book he was reading before he had been interrupted by the energetic man, “I am planning on researching this evening. Is there anything you require?”

“You’re going to my friend’s party tonight then! You’re so boring, and you need to get out and pretend to have a social life every once in a while!”

Logan merely raised an eyebrow and looked at Roman with his piercing blue eyes, “I do not understand. You are my friend, and you are a social person. How do I not have a, as you call it, social life?”

“I don’t think you understand what a ‘social life’ is. When was the last time you went to hang out with a group of friends? Ah, that doesn’t matter, the point is, you need to get out more.”

“I believe I ‘get out’ often enough. I let you dye my hair blue. It is rather undignified. I do not see why you require me to be at this party. It is your friend’s party, so, logically, you would not need me there for friendship. There is no logical explanation of your need for me to be there.”

“Okay. But you’re coming with me, and that’s final. Don’t you dare wear a full suit. You can wear a tie, preferably with like, a polo shirt, but no suit coat.”

Logan’s eyebrows wrinkled for a moment before they smoothed out to his normal expression, “By telling me to not wear a suit, you are telling me that it is common to dress in more normal school attire for these parties. Am I correct?”

“For this one, yes. Fancy parties exist, but those are not exactly super common.”

“Fascinating,” Logan murmured as he took out a notebook to write down the information, “I will attend this party of your friend’s for research purposes. I have found that I do not know the normal activities of those that are my age. I do request that you do not try to give me an outfit to wear to the party. Your choice of attire is quite unprofessional.”

“Well, at least you’re coming. The party starts at five, but I’m picking you up at half past four.”

“That is satisfactory. I do recommend we go to class. The bell is scheduled to ring in five minutes.”

“Fine. I must depart to the stage where dreams are made reality!”

Logan gave a nod, “I shall go to my class as well. Good day.”

“Goodbye, dear friend! I will see you later!”

****

Virgil was dreading the party. Everyone was going to be there. Patton may be cooking, but that did not change the fact that there would be a lot of people. He might just decide to stay home and shoot Patton a text with an apology. He would figure something out. He just needed to avoid Patton, so he couldn’t get him to go. 

As he thought that, though, Patton popped up behind him. “Hey, Kiddo! How’s it going?”

Patton’s cheer made Virgil internally curl with guilt. He avoided Patton’s light blue eyes and gave a forced snort of laughter, “Patton, you do know we are the same age, right? And I am doing fine.”

“I don’t care if we’re the same age, I’ll call you kiddo. Glad to hear you’re doing well. Have you been needing any help with English?”

Virgil gave a small smile and an internal sigh of relief at the fact Patton hadn’t mentioned the party, “I am doing fine with English. Mr. Sanders has been understanding about my anxiety and decided that he was going to push the assignment back another week for those that haven’t finished.”

“That’s awesome! He’s a great teacher isn’t he? Much better than Mrs. Ciderson from however many years ago.”

Virgil nodded, “Yeah, she may have taught the stuff, but she had no idea on how to handle the students. Do you remember that Roman guy? He would randomly start singing in class and all anyone could do was stare. I actually enjoyed that part of her class.”

“Yeah, Roman’s a character. Oh, that reminds me, are you coming to the party?”

Virgil forced the smile to freeze on his face as guilt attacked him, “Oh, yeah the party.” His voice was awkward, and he inwardly cringed at it. That was when he made the mistake of looking Patton in the eyes. His eyes were so wide, full of innocence and kindness. He just couldn’t say no, “Yeah. I’m coming. I may need to leave early and all, but I’ll be there for a while at least.”

“Awesome! Yeah, feel free to leave if you need, and if you need to bring your headphones, you can bring them.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. I am going to head to class. I don’t want to be late!” Virgil said, giving Patton a smile.

“I’ll head to class too, then. Have fun!”

Virgil gave him a wave and walked off, wondering what he had just gotten himself into.

****

Logan looked at the house as Roman parked. It wasn’t quite how he had imagined it. There weren’t any crazy lights, and loud music. He could hear music, but it wasn’t pouring out of the house. 

“Well, here we are. Ready to go inside?”

Logan gave a nod, straightening his tie, “Yes, it would be illogical to stay in the car when we came for the party. This does seem rather tame compared to the ones I have been informed about though.”

“Well, my friend has a friend who might be coming, and that friend doesn’t like ridiculously loud situations from what I’ve heard, so it makes sense. My friend also doesn’t want to get arrested for being too loud.”

Logan gave a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement, “Your friend appears to be a pleasant person. This may be a productive night.”

Roman knocked on the door. “He’s a very nice person. He’s also very energetic sometimes, so be warned.” 

“I shall keep that in mind. Is he as energetic and theatrical as you?”

“Not nearly as theatrical, I think we’re tied for energy levels.”

“This is intriguing. I had not considered the possibility of a person being as energetic as you. That was an oversight on my part, and I shall endeavor to correct it in my calculations.”

As they were talking, someone opened the door. Roman didn’t recognize her, so probably someone who looked lonely that Patton invited. “Come in,” she said.

Logan looked at Roman, “I believe we have been instructed to enter without any form of identification needing to be given. That is intriguing. My research on the matter informed me that identification would be required to show I am a certain age.”

“Wrong type of party, Logan.”

“Please explain parties to your friend,” the girl said. “He’s going to have a heart attack in there.”

“Parties are social events where you invite people over to your house, lots of time food’s involved, sometimes music. That’s all a party has to be,” Roman said.

“I believe I understand. What do people do at a party? My information is probably inaccurate.” Logan said, face serious, notepad out.

“Probably. They talk to each other, sometimes they have dance-offs, eat food if there is some, play games, it really depends on the party, but the bottom line is that they have fun.”

“Ah, then I shall attempt to ‘have fun’, as you said, though I do not understand how a dance-off is ‘fun’. Is it a form of competition? Is there something the victor receives?”

“Yes, it’s a competition. Two people dance, and they try to outdo each other. It’s funny to the people watching because the people are dancing silly moves a lot, and it’s fun to the participants because dancing is fun. Your second question depends on the party, but the prize could be anywhere from bragging rights to money.”

“May you explain what bragging rights are?”

“It means the only actual prize is that you can brag that you won. Also, why am I only just now teaching you this, and how do you not know this already?”

“I have never expressed interest in this before, and I have no, to quote you,” He flipped further back in his notebook, “‘social life’, and I needed to come to this party to, quote, ‘have a social life’. Does that properly explain my lack of knowledge on these topics? I would also like to add that we should enter the building and let those behind us enter also.”

“Yeah, we should.” And in they went. “Now, I’m going to leave you alone for a while, because I’m sure you can talk to people like a normal human. Please don’t embarrass yourself too much, for I must go in search of food!”

For a moment Logan looked at him in panic, but it passed quickly as he realised that it may be a good thing for Roman to be gone. His observations wouldn’t be interrupted by Roman’s concern that he was having fun, “Alright, I will endeavor to avoid embarrassing myself. I wish you luck in your search.”

“Thanks Logan! I’m on my way, food!” And then Roman walked away. 

Logan gave a fond huff to the man with dyed red hair. He shook his head and walked to a corner of the room to watch the crowd. He figured he could learn more about normal human behavior from this setting. He knew he was different from his peers, and he wanted to know how different. 

****

“Let’s put the food there. It’s not too hidden, but not in the middle of the floor either. Can you help me move the table?” Patton asked Virgil.

“Of course,” Virgil replied, grabbing one end of the table while Patton grabbed the other, “Are you excited for the party?”

“Yeah! I think Roman’s bringing one of his friends, it’ll be nice to meet them. How about you? And I want you to answer honestly, Virge.”

“Honestly? Anxious. There is going to be a lot of people. I just need to get used to the idea,” Virgil replied, hoping he was convincing enough with the latter part to keep Patton from worrying.

“That makes sense. If you ever need a quiet moment, my bedroom’s the third door on the left, and should be people-free.”

“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just hope people don’t go crazy. I mean we have people from every clique in the school going to be here. What if there’s a fight? What if someone chokes on food? What if someone has a dangerous allergic reaction to the food?” Virgil said, speaking fast as his anxiety heightened with the thoughts of everything that could go wrong.

“Hey, hey, breathe with me, Kiddo. If someone has a severe allergic reaction, we hope they have their epipen and call 911 if necessary, and I’ll label food that could cause allergic reactions with the guilty ingredients. If someone chokes, I’m pretty sure someone knows Heimlich Maneuver, and we’ll have juice and water nearby. If there’s a fight, I’ll use my ‘Patton-ted’ defuse the situation technique. Give them other stuff to focus on so they don’t fight, and if necessary, we can always tell one of them to go wash some dishes or something.”

Virgil nodded as he calmed down, “Yeah, you’re right. Everything’s going to be fine. This will be fun.” He took another deep breath, “Thanks Patton. I don’t know what caused that, but thanks for calming me down.”

“Don’t worry about it! That’s what friends do. I’m gonna check on the cookies, want one? They’re best straight out of the oven.”

Virgil gave him a bright smile, “Of course I want a cookie. Your cookies are the best.”

“Aww, thank you!”

“I’m just being honest. Let’s eat some cookies and finish getting ready for the party.”

“Okay. I like your sweater, by the way.”

“Thanks. It helps with my anxiety.”

After they finished their cookies and everything was set up, people started to come and Patton went to greet them. Virgil drifted to one of the walls to try to avoid having to interact with people. He was only at the party for Patton. He wasn’t going to socialize if he could help it. 

Roman saw Virgil by the wall, and he looked kind of lonely. When he got his food he walked over there. “Hello. I’m Roman. What’s your name?”

He looked up at Roman with his greyish purple eyes, “Huh? Oh, I’m Virgil. Uh, nice to meet you I guess.” Virgil looked down at his hands uncomfortably as people started to talk more freely around them, “How are you enjoying the party?”

“It’s pretty nice, but the food is the best. Patton is really good at cooking.”

“Can’t argue with that. Wait,” Virgil’s eyes narrowed at a sudden realization, “You’re Patton’s friend Roman! He said you were bringing a friend, right? Do you need to get back to them? Are they alone? Oh no, I am probably bothering you. I’ll just leave now,” Virgil rambled on, anxiety coursing through him at the fact that Roman was the friend Patton had mentioned.

“Hey, it’s fine. I brought him so he could learn to be social, and he can probably survive for a few minutes without a coach. He’ll learn better that way.”

Despite Roman’s attempts at calming him, Virgil was still filled with anxiety and felt an anxiety attack on it’s way. He could already feel himself hyperventilating, “I-I need t-to go. I ne-need some ai-air.”

“Alright. Bye!” Roman figured that now would be a good time to check on Logan, so he went to do that.

Virgil walked towards the door to outside, but he felt too exposed, so he sat down in a corner and curled in on himself. His breathing became very labored. He knew coming to the party was a bad idea.

****

Logan stood, watching people pass. It was surprisingly boring. His peers were pretty much just doing what they would do at school. They stood and talked to each other, ate, and joked around. The only difference he saw was that there were some people dancing in the middle of the room.

“Peers are performing their ordinary actions currently. Only point of interest is the dance floor where six people have chosen to dance,” he muttered as he wrote in his notebook.

Patton popped up next to him. “Hello, Lonely Person! What are you doing?”

Logan looked up and met eyes with the single most cheerful person he had ever met, aside from Roman, “Oh, I am merely observing people. My friend convinced me to come to this party. According to him I need more of a social life. My name is Logan.”

“Hi, Logan! I’m Patton! Nice to meet you!”

“It is a pleasure to meet you also. I am intrigued that you approached me. I was not attempting to partake in socializing.”

“Well, now you are socializing. Funny how life never quite turns out the way you expect. How are you enjoying the party?”

“It is not quite as lively as i expected. My research led me to believe a party to be loud. My friend also prefers more theatrical things. This led me to believe there would be more activities and drama. I am finding it to be surprisingly dull. I was expecting to be able to gather more information on how my peers interact. I shall need to adjust my calculations again.”

“Interesting.”

Then Roman walked up. “Logan! I see you met Patton, the host!”

Logan’s face paled and then lit up with a blush, “So, you’re the host of this party.” He buried his face in his hands, “That I just said was dull compared to what I thought it would be. I must give you my deepest most humble apologies. I should have never called your party dull.”

Patton chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry. I wouldn’t have asked if I hadn’t wanted to know. What could I do to make it more interesting?”

Roman started talking before Logan could answer. “By the way, Patton, I talked with Virgil, he said he needed some air. He looked kind of stressed, too.”

Logan glanced at Roman, “Is Virgil the friend of Patton’s that doesn’t like loud situations?”

“I think so. Why?”

“There was an increase in volume of a group of people by the food table, and that was where you had said you were going to. The logical conclusion is that Virgil was near the food table, and the louder volume is responsible for his stress.” Logan explained.

“I better go make sure he’s okay,” Patton said.

Logan gave a nod and looked at Patton, “If it is agreeable, I would appreciate the opportunity to help Virgil. If he is having problems, I may know ways to aid him.”

Patton nodded and rushed off. His friend needed help, and he was going to help. He was quickly followed by Logan and Roman. They gently shoved their way through the crowd and reached where Roman had left Virgil, but he wasn’t by the wall.

“Alright,” Roman said. “That makes sense, needing air was probably an excuse to leave. Let’s head towards the door, it would make sense if he went over there."

They walked toward the door, and Logan looked around as they went. A theory developed in his mind as they walked and solidified as they passed the dance floor, “I believe Virgil would have felt too vulnerable. He would look for somewhere to make him feel less like he was out in the open. Patton, does he have any habits for when he has an anxiety attack?”

“He likes to find areas where he won’t be as surrounded and put headphones on if he has them with him, I think. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him have an anxiety attack though, so I’m not sure.”

Logan nodded, “From what I have researched on anxiety attacks, he would most likely go to the closest place. Where is the closest place with the least amount of people?”

“Check the corners in the food-ish area, if not there, then the hallway,” Patton said. “If you find him, please don’t be loud. It’ll probably make it worse.” 

After that, they separated and went to look for Virgil. Logan and Roman converged on the same corner where they found Virgil rocking himself. At first, they stood there and stared at the huddled figure.

Logan then turned to Roman, suddenly, “Go find Patton. I’ll stay here. Patton will be the one that will have the most success in calming him.”

“Got it. You know what you’re talking about, so I’ll trust you.” And he left to find Patton. Thankfully, Patton was easy to find with his almost-neon-bright polo shirt.

Upon their return, they found Logan crouched down in front of Virgil. He was far enough away to avoid crowding him, but close enough to let him know he was there. 

Logan looked up as Patton arrived and turned to inform Virgil of Patton’s arrival, “Virgil, Patton has arrived. I am going to let him take my place. I will still be here, but I am letting Patton take over.” He then stood and gestured for Patton to take his place.

Patton knelt down. “Hey, Kiddo. It’s okay, I’m here. Do you want your headphones?”

Virgil gave a nod, but didn’t move his hands to put them on. He was shaking, and was still breathing heavily.

“Okay, I’m going to put them on you, is that okay?”

Virgil let out a ragged breath and gave another jerking nod, of acceptance. Patton slowly took the headphones, and put them on his friend.

“Breathe with me, okay? In for three seconds, hold for five, out for seven. In,” he paused. “Out.”

Virgil slowly attempted to follow the instructions. After a few tries, his breathing began to even out. He was still rocking and shaking, but he had stopped hyperventilating. He looked at Patton and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

“It’s okay, don’t push yourself to speak if you’re not ready to. It’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be alright. You’re safe here.”

Virgil nodded and looked up at Logan, his face asking who he was. Logan didn’t seem to understand what Virgil wanted, so he looked to Patton for an explanation, “I believe Virgil wants something but I do not know what it is.”

“I think it’s just that he doesn’t recognize you. Does that sound right, Virgil?”

Virgil nodded, and Logan gave a kind smile in response, “My name is Logan. Roman invited me. He actually forced me to come.”

Virgil gave an unsteady smile and placed his hand flat against his lips and moved his hand forward with the palm up.

“He says ‘Thank you,’” Patton says. “I’ve got to thank you too. You kept him fairly calm till I could come help.”

“You are welcome, Virgil. It was no problem or inconvenience. As I had stated to Patton before Roman came to us, the party has been rather dull compared to how I had thought it would be.” Logan replied to Virgil.

That earned a slight laugh from Virgil. He had stopped shaking and gestured for them to all sit down.

Roman glanced at Logan. “Wait, did you seriously research anxiety, people’s reactions to it, and likely how to help, when you would likely never be in a place where you would use that information?”

Logan gave Roman a deadpan look and stated, “There quite a few situations that I would be in. At school there are many things that could trigger this reaction. I am also around you, and that is also enough reason to research it. I never know what you are going to do and cause.”

“Ok, fine, that’s fair. But that doesn’t make you any less of a nerd.”

“I never claimed that I was not a nerd. A nerd is also known as a single-minded expert in a particular technical field. Calling me a nerd is a compliment. If you go by the other definition, I have never denied the fact that I do not have social skills, and I am very studious.”

“Or,” Patton said, “it’s like the candy, and he’s calling you sweet. No? Ok.”

Virgil gave a small smirk and shook his head at Patton’s humor. He then tapped Patton on the arm and moved his fisted hand clockwise in front of his chest.

“Nothing to be sorry about, Virge. These things happen, it’s fine. It’s also not your fault, so don’t say it is.”

Virgil nodded and opened his arms for a hug from Patton. 

Patton smiled and gave Virgil a hug. “I’m glad you’re feeling a little bit better.”

Virgil’s voice was small as he said, “Thank you for helping. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t helped. I couldn’t calm down, no matter how hard I tried.”

“That’s what friends do, and if you ever need help, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Virgil pulled back and turned to Roman, “Thank you for telling Patton whatever it was that made him think to look for me.”

“No problem! I just talk about a lot of stuff at random, so something I say should eventually be useful, right?”

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Even if you’re a complete moron? I think you’re right.”

“Umm, rude, but thanks.”

Logan shrugged, “He isn’t wrong, Roman.”

Patton pulled out a banana. “Does anyone else find this banana very a-peel-ing, or is that just me?”

Virgil snickered and gave a light sigh, “Patton, you are too good to us. Thanks for being an amazing friend.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Someone’s got to make sure you don’t kill each other!”

Logan adjusted his glasses, “I do not understand. If you were the person that is keeping us from killing each other, that would mean we are a group of friends, correct? We did not know each other before this. How would we be a friend group now? I do not understand my peers.”

“Because I’ve adopted you into my friend group, there is no escape. Roman could survive, but you need more friends, Logan.”

“Be prepared to be called ‘kiddo’ all the time now,” Virgil warned, a full smile on his face, “Patton has grabbed you to be in our group. He is going to do it all the time.”

Logan blinked, “Ah, our group will be made of two people that don’t like social situations, an energetic and friendly person that calls everyone ‘kiddo’, and an over dramatic theater person.”

“Sounds about right!” Roman said. “Two extroverts and two introverts. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.” A pause. “Wait, has no one seen Infinity War?”

Virgil and Logan looked at each other, and then looked at Roman, “Why did you ask that? Did you make a reference?”

“Yes, I did. The main bad guy says the line ‘Perfectly balanced, as all things should be,’ to a small child he ‘saved.’ The kid grew up to hate him because he was the bad guy and killed a bunch of people.”

Virgil stared at him. After a moment he gave Roman a teasing smile, “So you’re saying you’re the bad guy?”

“Why. Just… why?”

Virgil smiled, “You didn’t deny it. Are you the bad guy? I thought you said you were the prince last year.”

“No, I am not the bad guy. If anyone’s the bad guy, it’s you, Dark and Dreary.”

Patton, sensing an incoming argument, said, “Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.”

Logan blinked and turned to Patton, “Fruit does not fly, Patton. Unless it is thrown, but that is not it flying. That is the force placed behind it sending it into-”

“No, Logan. Fruit flies, like the annoying little insect that gets on your fruit if it gets a little bit overripe,” Roman said. “It’s a pun.”

Logan’s eyes widened in realization, “Oh! I apologize, Patton! I must have missed puns in my research. I will need to add that to my calculations. Why are there so many variables with people?”

“Don’t worry about it, Logan! You helped distract Roman, which was great. I think there are so many variables because emotions get involved.”

Logan stared at Patton, “Emotions… how do you calculate it? How do you put it into calculations for how people will react?”

“You don’t. Sometimes you have to make like a bird and wing it.”

“Wing… it... “ He looked at Patton, “How do I ‘wing it’?”

“Go with the flow, accept you don’t know how to deal with all situations, and make it up as you go along. Is it ideal? Not always, but emotions are so random that you can’t make a solid prediction.”

Logan nodded, “Figure it out as I go along. Alright, I can do that. I can treat this like a science experiment. I don’t know the outcome, but I know what is being put in.”

“If thinking about it like that is what helps you, go for it. You’ve got this, Kiddo!”

“You’re right. I’ve got this!”

“How did you do that? He seems to understand what you meant!” Roman said.

Patton shrugged. “I dunno. I guess just phrase stuff in a way that makes sense to the person you’re talking to, and help them come up with their own ways to think about it if they need it.”

Virgil looked at the others, “Patton’s really good at that. He’s also really good at bringing people together to be friends. Do you guys agree?”

Logan nodded, “He is. He brought us all here. After all, it is his party.”

“Absolutely,” Roman said. “He kind of said he adopted us into his friend group with no escape, after all, and none of us complained.”

Virgil smiled, “I’m glad I came today.”

“Me, too, Virgil,” Patton said. “Really, you helped a lot with bringing us together.”

“Thank you, Virgil. Patton is right,” Logan looked around at the crowded party, “you did help bring us together.”

Virgil’s eyes widened, “Uh, you’re welcome. I was not expecting that.”

“Yeah, thanks Virgil!” Roman said. “You may seem kind of quiet and antisocial, but you’re a really cool dude.”

Virgil’s ears turned red, and he buried his face in his arms at his knees, “Guys, you are being too nice. I don’t know what to do with it!”

“Don’t worry, kiddo. It’s fine. Seriously though, why has no one paid you any compliments before? Especially with your hair! It looks so cool!”

“I’m antisocial. I don’t interact with people often. That is why I am not used to compliments.”

“That’s fair. But you still deserve compliments, so don’t say you don’t!”

“Fine, Patton. I deserve compliments. I am a weird, strange, anxious person that deserves compliments.”

“Thank you. If anyone talks bad about my dark strange son, I will physically fight them, and that includes you, Virgil. Absolutely no self-deprecating comments.”

“Fine, fine, I am a bright ray of sunshine that deserves compliments!”

Logan gave a smile, “I’m glad we are all friends.”

“I agree with you, Logan, strange as it is. I’m glad we became friends, too,” Roman said. 

Virgil smiled, “We are going to be great friends. That is the best thing.”

“Absolutely!” Patton agreed. “Anyone up for a group hug?”

They all smiled and hugged in the corner with the party going on around them. They were all glad to be friends, and they were the best friends they could be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! We love the support! Stay safe and have a great day (or night)!


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